Times Cryptic 27704

Author   jackktPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 36 minutes. This is my 450th blog of 15×15 puzzles – the first having been posted on 23rd November 2007. I remember sweating blood over the early ones but the process became much easier over time as I got used to what I was trying to do and difficulties with presentation and formating were resolved by the introduction of the template script. I’m not sure my solving times have improved a lot since those days but  I don’t concern myself too much about that, quoting them mainly for the encouragment of slower solvers who might otherwise feel over-awed when seeing the times posted by our speed merchants. I found today’s puzzle quite gentle.

As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.

Across
1 Only two revolutionaries brutally killed (9)
BUTCHERED : BUT (only), CHE + RED (two revolutionaries)
6 Shining helmet worn by copper travelling west (5)
LUCID : LID (helmet) outside [worn by] CU (copper) reversed [travelling west]. For crossword purposes ‘lid’ can be a hat or substantial head-covering of any sort.
9 Wanting best position in race run round (7)
ELITISM : SIT (position) contained by [in] MILE (race) all reversed [round]. I’m not sure whether ‘run’ belongs with ‘race’ or with ’round’ in the parsing, but it really doesn’t matter.
10 Shoot dead leaders in rally at Lusaka (7)
LATERAL : LATE (dead), then R{ally} A{t} L{usaka} [leaders]. Collins has this as ‘a branch, leaf, or bud that grows out from the side of a stem or trunk’ – an offshot in other words.
11 Company lacking trade at the outset in recession (5)
TROOP : POOR (lacking} + T{rade} [at the outset] reversed [in recession]
12 Home to fox, fish and one residing here? (9)
EARTHLING : EARTH (home to fox), LING (fish)
13 Ancient blubber and bone one processed (5)
NIOBE : Anagram [processed] of BONE I (one). In Greek mythology Niobe was a daughter of Tantalus whose children were slain after she boasted of them and although turned into stone she continued to weep. A rare example of anagram where part of the anagrist (the ‘I’ in this case) has to be deduced from the clue.
14 Serving vessel first in cruel sea about to founder (9)
SAUCEBOAT : Anagram [to founder] of C{ruel} [first] SEA ABOUT
17 Ambitious person has trouble with father over time (9)
CAREERIST : CARE (trouble), then SIRE (father) reversed [over], T (time)
18 Work in Greek island European parliament backed (5)
ILIAD : I (island), then DAIL (European parliament – lower Irish assembly) reversed [backed]
19 Modern home for Englishman in city (9)
NEWCASTLE : NEW (modern), CASTLE (home for Englishman). As in the saying ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’.
22 Service in French is for an artist (5)
ERNST : RN (service – Royal Navy) contained by [in]  EST (French ‘is’)
24 Set aside weapon carried in E-boat? (7)
EARMARK : ARM (weapon) contained by [carried in] E + ARK (boat)
25 Schoolboy is son missed by Baltic citizen (7)
ETONIAN : E{s}TONIAN (Baltic citizen) [son – s – missed]
26 Central idea in article by this compiler (5)
THEME : THE (article), ME (this compiler)
27 Sentimental, recollected losing cat (9)
NOSTALGIC : Anagram [recollected] of LOSING CAT
Down
1 Mariner at the end seen in worst French port (5)
BREST : {marine}R [at the end] contained by [seen in] BEST (worst – defeat)
2 Flag officer supports right one entering service abroad? (9)
TRICOLOUR : R (right) + I (one) + COL (officer) contained by [entering] TOUR (military service abroad)
3 Locks picked by those experiencing scarcity in Barnet? (9)
HAIRPIECE : Cryptic definition with reference to CRS ‘Barnet Fair’ = hair.
4 Self-destructive character in tale rough-sounding Poles related (15)
RUMPELSTILTSKIN : RUMPEL sounds like [sounding] “rumple” (rough), STILTS (poles), KIN (related). He’s a dwarf in a German folktale who aids the king’s bride on condition that she give him her first child or guess the dwarf’s name. She guesses correctly and in his rage he destroys himself. (Collins)
5 Doctor reunited with slimmer — problem due to withdrawal (8,7)
DELIRIUM TREMENS : Anagram [doctor] of REUNITED SLIMMER. Withdrawal from dependence on alcohol or drugs. Also the name of a rather good Belgian beer.
6 Liberal attending religious place that’s closer (5)
LATCH : L (liberal), AT (attending), CH (religious place – church)
7 That’s amazing soldier in Pembroke for example (5)
CORGI : COR (that’s amazing!), GI (soldier). There are two recognised breeds of corgi apparently, Pembroke and Cardigan.
8 An achievement to restrict luminescence over the moon (9)
DELIGHTED : The cryptic version to be read as ‘de-lighted’. On edit: I see now that my interpretation of the first bit was too whimsical and something of a stretch; it’s more straightforward wordplay – DEED (achievement) containing [to restrict] LIGHT (luminescence). Many thanks to Angus Walker for pointing this out.
13 Century in midday match: result foregone conclusion? (2,7)
NO CONTEST : C (century) contained by [in] NOON (midday), TEST (match)
15 Brew infused with Australian fruit upset writer (5,4)
EMILE ZOLA : ALE (brew) contains [infused with] OZ (Australian) + LIME (fruit), all reversed [upset]
16 Finding position, drop airtight container into region at sea (9)
ORIENTING : TIN (airtight container) contained by [drop…into)  anagram [at sea] of REGION
20 More severe misery to involve vergers in Reims (5)
WORSE : WOE (misery) contains [to involve] R{eim}S [vergers – letters at the edges]
21 In the beginning Adam reported temptation as moderate (5)
ABATE : A{dam} [in the beginning], BATE sounds like [reported] “bait” (temptation)
23 Workers organised to run in short jacket (5)
TUNIC : TU (workers organised – Trades Unions), NIC{k} (run in – arrest) [short]

61 comments on “Times Cryptic 27704”

  2. Nice to see ‘artist’≠RA and ‘work’≠OP; not nice to be slowed down by both. I biffed TRICOLOUR, ORIENTING,1 & EARMARK, never did parse TRICOLOUR. DNK LATERAL or Pembroke. I had a MER at 6ac, which I subsequently lowered when I found that ODE gives ‘bright’ as a meaning of LUCID.
  3. Will Jack become the Brian Lara of Crosswordland – fine innings Sir!

    Keep it up!

    FOI 5dn DELIRIUM TREMENS

    LOI 9ac ELITISM

    COD 14ac SAUCEBOAT

    WOD 4dn RUMPELSTILTSKIN terrified me as a child, whereas Strewwelpeter amused!

    I never managed to parse 1dn BREST. 45mins – enjoyable.

    Edited at 2020-06-30 01:06 pm (UTC)

  4. LOI ELITISM, whose clue I thought was diabolical. POI RUMPELSTILTSKIN. FOI ILIAD.

    I thought the setter was somewhat cavalier about Niobe’s suffering. Guessed what was going on about the dog.

    Congratulations, Jackkt!

  5. “I’m just on the borders of DTs darling, and I’ve wasted some of my tremendous love for you on a lank redmouthed girl with a reputation like hell.” —The Love Letters of Dylan Thomas

    AKA (Wikipedia) the shakes, barrel-fever, blue horrors, bottleache, bats, drunken horrors, elephants, gallon distemper, quart mania, and pink spiders.

    Edited at 2020-06-30 05:17 am (UTC)

  6. DELIRIUM TREMENS went in straight off the bat today and the rest flowed nicely from there. As Jack says a rather good Belgian beer though very strong so it wouldn’t take many to result in the DTs.

    Congratulations on the 450 Jack and thank you for all your work. I’d like to join you one day when time allows and there is a vacancy so I’m glad to hear it gets easier as I imagine it taking hours to prepare.

    1. Thanks for your congrats, Pootle

      Strength has to be measured against the quantity served and consumed so the only objective comparison with other drinks is by units of alcohol in a serving. A bottle (330ml) of DT contains 2.81 units whereas a large glass (250ml) of 12% wine (almost the weakest on offer in most bars) contains 3 units, so drink for drink DT is weaker – also when compared with a draught pint of ale or lager such as Abbot or Kronenbourg at 2.84 units.

      I like to think of myself as something of a connoisseur of fine beers – especially enjoying the infinite variety of Belgians – but they are to be savoured like a fine brandy and are not intended for those whose only concern is drinking as much as possible in terms of pints consumed.

      The formatting of the blog takes seconds but explaining the clues can be time-consuming depending on how much detail one goes into.

      Edited at 2020-06-30 06:26 am (UTC)

      1. I work for a company headquartered in Brussels and go there from time to time. Several times I have seen Brits come unstuck by drinking Belgian strength beer at British levels of consumption. Like you I’m in the connoisseur camp rather than the consumption camp.
        1. I have often seen Brits come unstuck drinking British beer at British levels of consumption.
  7. As with Horryd I entered DELERIUM TREMENS straight off the bat, just as I had the last time it appeared. Then I wondered and thought I’d better check the anagram fodder, which made me correct mine. Hope he corrected his.

    Loved the DT quote above.

  8. Congratulations Jack, your stamina is very impressive. As I remarked yesterday on another subject, perhaps more Sir Geoff Boycott than Brian Lara but just as impressive, or even more so.

    Quite quick doing this and would have been quicker still if I had not confidently written ELITIST initially, which made 4dn my LOI rather than FOI as it seems to have been for others..

  9. Congratulations Jack on passing your latest milestone. I was quite quick today at 22 minutes, as I also got the DTs straightaway and then RUMPELSTILTSKIN immediately followed. LOI was ABATE. I did have a slight pause over the notion that the author of Germinal was the love child of Emile Heskey and Gianfranco Zola, and then the regret that the artist in 22a wasn’t clued as an accountant, but managed to keep reasonable momentum. Enjoyable. Thank you Jack and setter.

    Edited at 2020-06-30 06:52 am (UTC)

  10. Congrats, Jack! That’s quite some stretch of blogging…

    41 minutes here, carefully avoiding the potential spelling mistake in 5d as I’ve got DELIRIUM wrong a couple of times in the past.

    TV came to my aid yet again, as my current exercise-bike-fodder is Once Upon a Time, where 4d RUMPELSTILTSKIN is played delightfully by Robert Carlyle in full camp scenery-chewing mode, so I managed to biff that one.

    FOI 1a BUTCHERED, LOI the vocalophobia-inducing A_A_E of 21d. Enjoyed 9a ELITISM most, once I finally figured it out.

  11. I very much enjoyed this, right up to seeing the dreaded 576 thanks to DELERIUM. Such a long anagrist to double check!

    I found this pleasingly chewy, finishing in about 38m and having plenty of fun along the way. COD for me the SAUCEBOAT for its lovely surface, one of many.

    Thanks setter and congrats Jack on an excellent innings. Long may it continue!

  12. …And the soul wears out the Brest.
    25 mins with toast and strawberry jam.
    MER at Rough=Rumple.
    Mostly I liked: No Contest.
    Thanks setter and J and congrats.
    1. I agree. Doesn’t “rumple” equal “roughen” not “rough”?

      Midas

  13. As I finished I said to myself ‘that feels about 11 minutes’, so was almost spot on, not sure what that means. Anyway, enjoyable today with some nice definitions (e.g. ancient blubber). Amusing that worst means best (1dn).

    Congratulations jackkt! I slightly disagree with your analysis of 8dn, though, I think it is LIGHT (luminescence) in DEED (achievement).

    COD: ILIAD, liked the join between Greek and island, and the misdirecting wordplay.

    Yesterday’s answer: the Alamo can be found in San Antonio, Texas.

    Today’s question: the element niobium was so-called because it was related to which other element, named after Niobe’s father?

  14. 11:11, but I can’t spell DELIRIUM. I’m sure this has happened before and I’ll learn one day.
    The definition of ELITISM seems a bit loose. What do you call it when you’re governed by a small group of people who think they’re the elite?
    Congratulations jackkt that’s quite the milstone! Have a DT to celebrate. It’s nice but as you say not a session beer.

    Edited at 2020-06-30 07:25 am (UTC)

      1. Ha! Of course not, doing these blogs is never anything other than a pleasure. 😬

        Edited at 2020-06-30 07:53 am (UTC)

    2. Unfortunately my local that sells it is closed until the 15th but I have a bottle or two of Duvel in the fridge awaiting my attention. One of them is a Tripel Hop Citra which I am saving for the return of really hot weather – it’s so refreshing!
      1. Sounds nice. I try not to drink too much beer because it makes me fat (or fatter, as my kids would insist) but when I do I like it hoppy.
      2. Had a bottle of Duvel last night, along with a couple of bottles of the more mundane Leffe. Lovely stuff. In the words of Homer, “Beer is good.”
  15. Struggled through this one over all but 24 minutes, with the parsing resisting powerfully. Made much harder by an inability to spell. I tried TROUP for company at 11, forgot the malignant dwarf was German and tried RUMPLE… and of course had E for I in DTs which I failed to correct. It looks perfectly OK until it turns pink. I’ll try not pronouncing it deLEERium in future.

    I lost time in TRICOLOUR because I was blind to the R of right and didn’t see where it came from, and am still amazed that it’s not spelled TRICOLEUR, apparently ever.

    So not a happy experience today – not the setter’s fault at all.

    I’ve long lost count of how many of these things I’ve blogged, but 450 looks an awful (wonderful) lot.

  16. I really enjoyed this puzzle. Some excellent clues here. Particularly liked construction of SAUCEBOAT

    Well done Jack. I recall we started at the same time. Keep up the good work, sir!

  17. Well done, Jack! Getting on for Brian Lara’s record.
    Thanks for the explanation of ELITISM, LATERAL and TRICOLOUR.
    CORGI was good but my COD to HAIRPIECE.
  19. For quite a few minutes I had the wrong headpiece on. Which meant I couldn’t progress – due to Elitism. After administering the right syrup I finally got there.

    COD: BUTCHERED.

    Congrats Jack!

  21. As a relative newcomer, I extend thanks to jackkt and all the bloggers, without whom this would not be the fun place that it is. Best and worst are an interesting pair of apparent opposites that can mean the same. A single word that can mean the same and its opposite (nearly) is sanction.
  22. We salute your indefatigability, jack! Meanwhile, my clumsy two-finger typing resulted in RUMPELSTITLSKIN crossing with NEWCASLLE; I console myself by thinking it is the sort of error unlikely to be reproduced if solving with pen and paper. Anyway, clumsiness at the keyboard apart, this was an enjoyable tussle.
  23. Congratulations on the landmark!

    Just over 12 minutes today, slowed by falling for every red herring going (and some of my own creation). For a while I had SETTLING for 12a, somehow not even noticing that it didn’t fit, and then spelled RUMPLESTILTSKIN [sic] incorrectly for a long time, having biffed it. For 5d I can never quite remember the spelling or pronunciation, so I had to trust to the anagram to find something that sounds a bit like DELUSION TREMORS and is plausible.

    COD to 13d, a neat bit of work.

  24. 31 min. after unaccountably failing to see ‘abate’ at the end for a few of them. Back to something with the flavour of a crossword after yesterday’s uncompelling offering. Liked the sauceboat, a severe ER at rough for rumple, a slight shock at the brutal framing of a beautiful name…life’s hard on the grid. Failed to spot the ‘run in’ parsing; even that I count a slight victory by the setter.
  25. LHS much harder than RHS, which I completed very quickly. Several biffs I had to come here for ( thanks Jack for all your hard work) including ELITISM and RUMPELSTILTSKIN, where I was too fixated on the usual poles. LOI ABATE where an alphabet trawl was called for.
    COD HAIRPIECE
  26. More congratulations. I’m 7 years behind you, and unlikely to catch up.
    Enjoyed this, polished off in 15 minutes except for 12a where I was stumped, having it beginning with L because I’d spelt 4d RUMPLE… eventually checked how to spell said sad chap and all was well. Also had TRICOLEUR as the correct spelling at first, until the lady NIOBE showed up; remembered her from the Periodic Table group with the Niobium and Tantalum story.
    FOI 1a then 5d, LOI 12a. CoD 10a.
  27. When BUTCHERED, BREST and DELIRIUM TREMENS went straight in, I thought I was on a roll, but I soon ran out of steam and moved my attentions to the NE where there were richer pickings. RUMPELSTILTSKIN held me up amost until the end, but put my biffed ELITIST right. ILIAD, SAUCEBOAT and ORIENTING were last to fall. Never did parse TRICOLOUR, just biffed it from checkers and definition. Congratulations on your milestone, Jack. Keep up the good work! 29:51. Thanks setter and Jack.
  28. ….the BREST of times, it was the WORSE of times. It wasn’t my best time, but I’m always delighted to finish quicker than Verlaine.

    I biffed TRICOLOUR, CAREERIST, and ELITISM (I find “reversal” clues tricky – my brain isn’t wired to readily deal with them).

    FOI LUCID
    LOI ABATE
    COD NIOBE
    TIME 8:30


  29. Misspelt the gnome, DELIRIUM and TRICOLOUR, but am happy to be in good company.

    Biffed TRICOLORE for the flag initially until it failed to fit 17ac.

    Having rectified the initial errors I cantered home in 43.37.

    Thank you to setter and congrats. to our esteemed blogger for a rare achievement.

    Dave.

  30. Trollope has one of his characters call the DTs “delicious beam-ends”. Nice puzzle but I agree with others that rough=rumple was a bit of a stretch. 18.16

    And many more to you Jack – that’s an impressive achievement. Also thank you for all your help to novice/part-time bloggers and for generally minding the store.

  31. Phil is on fire today. Check out his QC time too.
    And he’s reminding me to get on with A Tale of Two Cites. I confess I’ve been listening to Johnny Cash singing Remember The Alamo (I had forgotten the details).
    One wrong in this puzzle. I thought NEONE was a hidden for the unknown blubber; DNK NIOBE.
    Had GRIND at 18a for a while then nearly gave up before my last two; TRICOLOUR and ELITISM.
    Congrats and thanks to Jack for his efforts here and on the QC (helpful table today).
    David
  32. Using “worst” for “best” seems a bit bizarre – but I suppose it’s fair enough. Spent a while trying to think of other 5 letter French ports with an R in the middle but couldn’t come up with one.
    Nice puzzle overall.

    Edited at 2020-06-30 01:51 pm (UTC)

  33. Had a very empty NW corner for a long time before the clues fell into place. TRICOLOUR took for ever to come – the question mark had me thinking that “flag” was part of the wordplay rather than the definition and that the answer was some kind of service abroad. I worked out what was going on with 3d early on but didn’t see HAIRPIECE for a long time, and ELITISM didn’t come until the very end, helped by finally remembering that best can equal worst so getting BREST.

    That final drag aside, I really enjoyed this puzzle.

    FOI Theme
    LOI Elitism
    COD Emile Zola

  34. LOI by a long way was ELITISM, I just couldn’t think of it, and the wordplay was the sort that only verifies a word and you are unlikely to construct the right answer from the wordplay alone. I had no idea who NIOBE was but I knew it was a word, so I just crossed my fingers she cried a lot. I biffed TRICOLEUR and then decided I’d better check the wordplay, where I found I needed the English spelling.

    Congratulations on 450 blogs, and thank you (all other bloggers too).

  35. 15.19 . A bit more with it than yesterday. FOI Brest and LOI elitism. In between regular process though rumpel etc took a while to decipher as did sauceboat. COD probably butchered for me.
  36. Posted this before reading the blog. Would hate to seem ungrateful, so thanks jackkt and here’s to many more.
  37. Congratulations, Jack, and thank you — I always enjoy your blogs, particularly since your times are usually comparable to mine and I find, say, verlaine rather daunting.

    This time I took 56 minutes, much of which was spent pondering some of my answers and being surprised they were right when I finally dared to hit the submit button. These included TUNIC (I didn’t see how the NIC(K) got in it), HAIRPIECE (I didn’t know the CRS involved), nor did I know what Pembroke had to do with CORGIs. LOI was ELITISM, once I realised that the M could be preceded by something other than U. And oh yes, I too still feel NOSTALGIC about the loss of our cat (although he did nearly reach the ripe old age of 20),

  38. Didn’t quite float my boat this one but no real complaints. Favourite clue Rumpelstiltskin – had the book!
  39. 26:53. A satisfying puzzle. Sauceboat was nice. Emile Zola and Rumpelstiltskin were far too convoluted for me to work out properly so I just biffed what was likely from Def and checkers.

    Congratulations on the milestone, Jackkt. A very impressive contribution to the life of this site.

  40. 450 n.o. is quite an achievement Jackkt. Thank you.
    Was the elitism of the careerist etonian deliberate? Surely it’s not a hairpiece?
    28’16”
  41. Off the wavelength with this.

    RUMPLE- instead of RUMPEL foxed me for ages preventing the EARTHLING from dropping.

  42. I printed off a few 15x15s last week and have just nearly completed this one. I fell short on 15dn so thanks for clearing that one up. As Olivia above, I’m struggling to see how rough=rumple in 4dn – even though the answer was gettable. I’d have been happy to accept roughen.
    I’ve also now seen your milestone for 15x15s – the appreciation I mentioned the other day just grows and grows. Thanks.

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